Britvic teams up with Sixty on wearable hydration monitor
British producer of soft drinks Britvic has teamed up with tech firm Sixty on a wearable hydration monitor.
Essential reading: Smart gadgets that help you drink more water
Drinking enough water is important, we all know that. But few of us actually take in enough of the liquid. A recent survey shows that 4 out of 5 American employees don’t drink enough water.
The most often cited reason for this is lack of thirst. But contrary to popular belief, you should not wait until you feel thirsty to drink water. This is because by that time, you are already dehydrated.
We have wearables for everything. Steps, calories, floors, distance and much, much more. Some devices even gauge the state of your mind. But nothing yet that has gone mainstream that is capable of monitoring hydration.
Most famously, there was BSL Athletic. They raised more than a million dollars for a wrist-based hydration tracker called LVL a few years ago. Their backers are still waiting for delivery. Needless to say, most of them have given up they will ever see a package with the device waiting for them on their doorstep.
Now Britic has announced it is working on a hydration monitor which is expected to be available by next Summer. The device uses something called optical spectrometry. This means it estimates your hydration levels by shining a light on your skin and measuring the intensity of absorption.
How well this works will be of much interest. We can see the likes of Fitbit, Garmin and Apple jumping on something like this, assuming the technology delivers reliable results. Apparently the wearable will be able to alert users when they need to take in more liquid all in real-time.
“I’m hugely excited to be working with Britvic, to bring the issue of hydration to light and to be developing Sixty, which will provide a smart solution to monitoring hydration,” said Paul Alesse, founder of Sixty.
“As a runner, a I know the importance of staying hydrated, but having Sixty makes it much easier as it tells you how much you need to drink and when.”
We don’t have any images of the device but when we do we’ll be sure to update this article. Hopefully, in the next few months more information will filter through.
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